State bill to dismiss abusive teachers not strong enough

Gov. Jerry Brown is currently deciding on a crucial issue affecting the safety and well-being of California’s children: how to remove abusive adults from California’s public school classrooms.

This week, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 375, which now sits on the governor’s desk. I urge him to veto it.

The California Teachers Association has touted AB 375 as the answer to our state’s desperate need to streamline teacher dismissals. But in reality, AB 375 will do the opposite.

As an educator, I never thought I’d be the one calling for streamlining the dismissal process for teachers. I had been told the long and complicated procedures were fair and put into place for my own good.

And I believed that — until my son entered the fourth grade.

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My son started fourth grade at Hardy Elementary School in San Diego excited about school and eager to learn. However, as the year went on, my son began suffering from ever-heightening anxiety, unexplained stomachaches and nightmares about going to school.

As a teacher at Hardy Elementary School, I had heard that my son’s fourth-grade teacher yelled at her students. I thought it was unkind behavior but didn’t think it amounted to abuse. Then she began singling out my son, berating and demeaning him beyond anything that might be thought of as acceptable for classroom management.

The breaking point came the day my son left the textbook he needed for his homework in the classroom. When I suggested we simply go and retrieve it, my son clutched my side and begged me not to make him. I told my son I would go with him — that he didn’t have to be afraid of his teacher with me there — but he responded, with fear in his eyes, “But you’re not there with me every day.”

In that moment, I realized that the person who was supposed to be protecting my child, and helping him to thrive, was instead slowing breaking him down. My heart broke.

For three years, parents whose children had experienced sadistic emotional bullying at the hands of this teacher organized and appealed to have her removed from our school. Apparently, this teacher had been traumatizing children for years.

Finally, nine families joined together and filed a uniform complaint against the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) with the grand jury.

After all our efforts, the grand jury issued a report saying the district has no policies in place to address mental and psychological abuse of students at the hands of teachers.

That is why I cannot support the weak and counterproductive AB 375.

Dismissal of teachers in these contexts will be made more difficult, if not impossible, by AB 375 in the following ways:

If new information is discovered during the investigation process — as it often is — that information would not be allowed if it would “result in prejudice” to the employee. Thus, the ability of school districts to amend charges to make a stronger case is severely limited.

The number of depositions would be limited to five for each side, thereby limiting the number of witnesses. In incident-based cases, such as abuse, it is common for new victims to come forward after the case is made public. AB 375 could therefore prevent critical witnesses from testifying.

AB 375 creates a six-month deadline to commence the dismissal process, which cannot be extended by an administrative law judge except for “extraordinary circumstances.” In incident-based cases, districts will likely be unable to meet this deadline, resulting in the teacher returning to the classroom.

As a parent and an educator, I have seen the tremendous influence a teacher can have on a child — both good and bad, unfortunately. I have also experienced how extremely difficult current laws make dismissing a teacher whom the entire school knows is harming children.

If AB 375 seeks to ease this process, it falls way short. We must start putting the safety and well-being of our children first. And that means making brave and meaningful changes to California’s very broken teacher dismissal process.